Huskers to make 19th NCAA Tournament appearance

Lincoln -- Hawaii, Southern California and Wisconsin join the Huskers as the other No. 1 seeds. Six Big 12 Conference teams earned bids, including Colorado, Texas Tech, Missouri, Texas A&M, Kansas State and NU. The total tied for the highest of any conference.

Nebraska earned one of the 16 automatic bids after claiming their fourth Big 12 Conference title in the last five years. The Huskers enter the tournament as the only undefeated team in the nation and could become just the second team in NCAA history to end the season with a perfect record.

The Huskers have been led this season by sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero, who earned Big 12 Conference Player-of-the-Year honors Sunday in a vote by the league's head coaches. Classmates Laura Pilakowski and Amber Holmquist and junior Jenny Kropp joined Cepero on the first-team all-conference squad, while senior right-side hitter Angie Oxley earned honorable-mention honors.

Meanwhile, the Huskers have won 28 straight league matches dating back to last season. Nebraska, ranked No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll for 12 straight weeks, has swept 23 of its 28 opponents this season, including 17 of its 20 league foes.

Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament
Nebraska has appeared in 19 of 20 NCAA Tournaments, missing just the first one in 1981. Only California-Santa Barbara, Pacific, Penn State and Stanford have played in every tournament.

The Huskers have compiled a 41-17 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. NU ranks third in wins and sixth in winning percentage (.707). Nebraska is one of just eight schools that has won the national title and one of just two schools east of California (the other is Texas) to have won the championship. In the last five seasons, the Huskers have produced an 18-4 postseason record.

NU lists seven players on its roster with NCAA Tournament experience. Senior Angie Oxley has the most postseason experience of any Husker. The senior outside hitter has played in 12 matches (33 games).

A look at Ivy League champion Princeton
Princeton, which finished the 2000 season with a 20-8 overall record, received the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when it defeated Cornell, 3-2, Nov. 11, to win its fifth conference title in the past seven years. The Tigers are led by senior outside hitter Sabrina King, the 1999 Ivy League Player of the Year. King earned first-team all-conference honors this season after tallying 3.50 kills per game and 3.78 digs per game for Princeton.

Senior middle blocker Emily Brown earned second-team honors, while freshman outside hitter Kellie Cramm was named the league's rookie of the year. Cramm averages 3.12 kills per game and 2.43 digs per game and turned in some of her best performances of the season at the Ivy Tournament, where she totaled 52 kills and just nine errors on 121 attempts for a .355 hitting efficiency.

The Tigers are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance. Princeton and Nebraska have never met in the history of the two programs.

A Look at South Carolina
South Carolina is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six years. USC, 21-6 overall, was 12-2 in the SEC, with its only losses coming at the hands of No. 9 Florida.The Gamecocks are led by three first-team All-SEC sophomores in Megan Hosp, Berna Dwyer and Cally Plummer.

Hosp, a setter, has played in every point of every match the past two years. She leads the Gamecocks in assists and digs. She had double-doubles (digs/assists) in nine Southeastern Conference matches and 14 overall matches and has directed South Carolina to the SEC's top hitting percentage.

Dwyer, a middle blocker, was in the top 10 nationally for much of the season season in hitting percentage (leads team at 368) and is currently No. 14 in the NCAA. Dwyer leads the team in kills and hit over .333 in nine SEC matches and 19 overall matches. Plummer is ranked seventh nationally in aces and has 138 aces in just two years .

A look at Atlantic-10 Champion George Washington
The Colonials, 25-5 and champions of the Atlantic 10 Conference, are making their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and their second postseason trip to Lincoln after defeating Xavier, 3-2, in the Atlantic 10 championship to earn the league's automatic bid. George Washington lost to the Cornhuskers in the second round of the 1994 NCAAs.

George Washington is led by Tracee Brown, who averages 5.15 kills per game on a .298 hitting efficiency. Brown, who earned Atlantic 10 Player-of-the-Week honors for three consecutive weeks in November, was one of four Colonials named to the A-10 All-Conference team. Middle blocker Julie Jahnke, setter Jill Levey and outside hitter Suzana Manole, all seniors, were named to the 12-member team.

GW Coach Jojit Coronel was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year . Under Coronel, GW has posted a 25-5 overall record and a 14-2 mark in the Atlantic 10. Coronel was named head coach for George Washington in October after serving as interim coach since August. Coronel replaced the late Yvette Moorehead.

Cepero Big 12 Player of the Year
Dallas - Nebraska sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero earned Big 12 Conference Player-of-the-Year honors in a vote by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Sunday. Cepero, a 6-2 native of Dorado, Puerto Rico, earned the honor after guiding the Huskers to a No. 1 ranking, a 28-0 record and a .323 hitting percentage (second in the nation) in her first season at the position.

Cepero is the only setter ranked in the top 10 of three different Big 12 categories. She is 10th in hitting percentage, ninth in assists per game and third in blocks per game. Cepero was also the first setter in the league to earn Big 12 Volleyball Athlete-of-the-Week honors, is averaging 11.69 assists, 2.17 digs, 1.51 blocks and 1.83 kills per game.

Four other Huskers joined Cepero on the Big 12 honor list. Sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski, sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist and junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp were named to the all-conference squad, while senior right side hitter Angie Oxley earned honorable-mention recognition.

Pilakowski, a native of Columbus, Neb., has been an offensive force for Nebraska in 2000, leading the Huskers with 4.22 kills per game on a .351 hitting efficiency, the highest percentage by an outside hitter in the Big 12. Holmquist, the nation's best blocker at 2.02 blocks per game, will most likely shatter the Big 12 Conference record of 1.79 per game. The Houston, Texas, native could also break the NU single-season school record of 1.92 set by Stephanie Thater in 1992. Holmquist has already broken a Big 12 Conference record with 16 total blocks at Texas Oct.22. Holmquist is also on pace to break Nebraska single-season records for block assists and total blocks.

Kropp, a product of Grand Island, Neb., ranks fourth nationally in blocks per game. She is second to Holmquist in the Big 12 Conference in that category. In league matches, Kropp averaged 1.81 blocks per game. She has led Nebraska in blocks 12 times this season. Oxley, a native of Ogallala, Neb., leads Nebraska with 28 service aces and 2.81 digs per game.

Other notable Big 12 honorees were Missouri head coach Susan Kreklow, the 2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Texas A&M middle blocker Tara Pulaski, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Baylor outside hitter Stevie Nicholas, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and Texas Tech's Heather Hughes-Justice, the Big 12 Defensive Specialist of the Year.

Huskers finish season undefeated
Manhattan, Kan. - It didn't come easily, but the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team became just the second team in school history to finish the regular season undefeated when it beat No. 22 Kansas State 15-10, 9-15, 14-16, 15-6, 15-12 before 5,225 fans at the Ahearn Field House. Nebraska, 28-0 overall and 20-0 in the Big 12 in 2000, also finished with a perfect regular-season record in 1994.

The KSU match marked just the second time this season that the Huskers have been pushed to a fifth game, as they defeated then-No. 3 UCLA, 3-2, Sept. 10 at the adidas Notre Dame Tournament. It was also only the fifth time this season that Nebraska has dropped a game. The Huskers own a 61-1 all-time mark against KSU (20-8, 14-6), but two of the last four matches have gone five games.

Four Nebraska players finished with double-figure kill totals, led by 15 from freshman outside hitter Anna Schrad, who started her second straight match in place of All-America candidate Laura Pilakowski, who underwent an appendectomy on Nov. 21. Schrad also had a career-best 17 digs. Junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp totaled 14 kills, and sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist and senior right side hitter Angie Oxley each added 12.

Sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero had 53 assists, seven kills, 12 digs and eight blocks, but NU hit less than .300 for just the sixth time this season.

Defensively, the Huskers out-blocked KSU 24-7, led by 11 blocks from Holmquist. Three Wildcats posted 20 or more kills, led by Grand Island, Neb., native Liz Wegner's 25.

In the rally-scoring fifth game, the Huskers and Wildcats were tied five times before NU took the lead for good when Schrad pounded a kill for the 13-12 advantage. With Cepero serving, the Huskers scored on a kill by Kropp to force game point. NU took the 15-12, fifth-game victory and the match with a solo block of Lisa Mimick by Schrad.

"We didn't really play that well," NU Coach John Cook said. "We struggled, but we found a way to win. Teams in the conference this season just have not forced us to be in this type of situation. Even at Texas A&M, we were in control in the third and fourth games. But Kansas State really pushed us tonight. They played very well. We worked really hard for this win."

Nebraska continues dominance in conference play
The 2000 Big 12 Conference championships is the latest in a long line of league titles for Nebraska. The Huskers have won 23 Big Eight/Big 12 championships in 25 seasons. Twenty-two of the titles came under former head coach Terry Pettit, who retired after the 1999 season and now serves as an NU athletic department administrator. Nebraska has won four of the five Big 12 championships -- all but the 1997 title. The Huskers own a 375-32-1 all-time record against Big 12 schools, an amazing .919 winning percentage.

Huskers nation's top blocking team
In the Nov. 20 NCAA statistics, Nebraska ranked No. 1 in the nation in team blocking with 4.17 per game. Sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist leads the nation in blocks per game, and junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp was tied for fourth nationally in that category. Final regular-season NCAA statistics are expected to be released later today.

The Huskers also lead the Big 12 in blocking, averaging 4.32 blocks per game in league matches. NU will likely break its own conference record of 3.83 blocks per game in a single season set in 1998. Holmquist ranks first in league matches (2.14), Kropp is second (1.78) and sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero ranks third (1.68 bpg). Nebraska, which has led the conference in blocking three of the past four years, is out-blocking its opponents 362.5 to 119.0 this season.

NU breaks conference blocking records
Nebraska staged its own block party at Texas Oct. 22, breaking two NU school records and two Big 12 Conference records for block assists.

The Huskers set a new NU record for block assists in a single match with 46, smashing the nine-year-old record of 41 set in 1991 against UCLA. The total also broke the Big 12 record for blocks in a four-game match. The previous mark of 42 was set by both Texas A&M and Kansas State in 1998.

With 16 total blocks against Texas, sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist broke the Big 12 Conference and the Nebraska record for total blocks in a single match. The previous record of 15 was held by former NU middle blocker Tonia Tauke, who accomplished the feat against Michigan State in 1996.

For the week of Oct. 16, the Huskers averaged an amazing 6.00 blocks per game in wins over Kansas State and Texas. Holmquist averaged 3.29 blocks per game for the week

Nebraska ranks second nationally in hitting percentage
The Huskers rank second nationally in the Nov. 20 NCAA hitting percentage statistics with a .325 efficiency. The mark includes their first 24 matches. Nebraska currently ranks first in the Big 12 Conference with a .326 efficiency, and the Huskers could challenge the NU single-season mark of .331 set in 1986. The Huskers are the only Big 12 team that boasts a hitting efficiency higher than .300.

As a team, the Huskers have hit .300 or higher in 19 of their 26 matches under the direction of first-year setter Greichaly Cepero. Their most impressive statistical offensive showing came against Creighton Oct. 3 when NU posted a .567 hitting percentage, their best mark in at least seven years. Nebraska has hit .485 or higher three times and .433 or higher five times already this season. Nebraska hit .400 or higher only two times in 1999.

For the season, seven of the 10 NU players who have attempted a kill are hitting .308 or higher, and the Huskers are dominating the Big 12 statistics in conference matches, as four players rank among the top 11 in hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist ranks first with a .441 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp is fourth (.372), sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski is eighth (.333), and Cepero ranks 11th (.327) in league matches.

Nebraska No. 1 for 12th straight week
For the 12th straight week, Nebraska was voted No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. The 28-0 Huskers received all 60 first-place votes and 1,500 points after a 3-0 win over Texas Tech and a 3-2 victory against Kansas State.

Southern California moved into second place, and Hawaii fell third after being upset by Long Beach State Saturday night. Wisconsin and Arizona round out the top five.

Six of the teams on NU's 2000 schedule are ranked, including Big 12 foes Kansas State (No. 23), Texas A&M (No. 24) and Missouri (No. 24).

The Huskers were voted the nation's No. 1 team for the first time in 2000 in the Sept. 1 poll. The poll marked the first time since 1995 that NU has held the top spot.

The Huskers moved into the No. 1 ranking on the strength of their successful weekend in South Bend. NU first posted sweeps of then-No. 22 Notre Dame Sept. 8 and then-No. 16 Michigan State Sept. 9. In the adidas Invitational title match Sept. 10, Nebraska knocked off previously third-ranked UCLA, 12-15, 15-11, 13-15, 15-1, 15-10.

Nebraska has produced an overall 63-2 mark when holding the nation's top spot. The Huskers are 22-0 in 2000, and were 27-0 at No. 1 in 1995, 9-1 in 1994 and 5-1 in 1990. Nebraska's only losses while ranked No. 1 were to Pacific in 1990 and Penn State in 1994.

Nebraska breaks NCAA attendance record
Lincoln, Neb. -- An NCAA regular-season record-breaking crowd of 12,504 fans cheered the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team to a 15-12, 15-3, 15-13 win over Colorado Nov. 4 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The attendance mark smashed the previous record of 11,529, which was set Oct. 22, 1995, at the Nebraska-Colorado match at the Devaney Center.

The record-breaking crowd was the second-largest overall in NCAA history, trailing only the 13,194 fans who attended the 1998 NCAA championship match between Long Beach State and Penn State in Madison, Wis.

Nebraska matches at the Devaney Center have attracted the top three regular-season crowds in NCAA history. The Huskers' match against UCLA Sept. 14, 1991 drew the third-largest crowd, 11,032 fans.

Nebraska Coach John Cook said he wanted to play at the Devaney Center in hopes of creating an atmosphere similar to the NCAA Final Four. The Huskers normally play at the 4,200-seat NU Coliseum.

Husker fans keep NU Coliseum packed
Nebraska's fans continue to fuel their team's success at the NU Coliseum. With an NCAA regular-season record-breaking crowd of 12,504 Nov. 4 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the Huskers' boosted their average attendance of 3,576 to 4,288 fans per contest. Hawaii ranks first, Wisconsin ranked third, Minnesota was fourth and Illinois State was fifth.

The 1999 season marked the best year ever for Husker attendance, as Nebraska drew 71,577 fans, breaking the 1998 record of 69,594.

Seven Huskers earn Academic All-Big 12 honors
Dallas -- Seven Nebraska volleyball players were among the 59 student-athletes who were named to the 2000 Academic All-Big 12 Conference team, the league office announced Monday. Seniors Jill McWilliams and Angie Oxley and sophomores Greichaly Cepero, Amber Holmquist, Laura Pilakowski and Lindsay Wischmeier earned first-team recognition, while junior Jenny Kropp was named to the second team. McWilliams is a four-time member of the academic all-Big 12 first-team, while Oxley has earned the honor three times. Cepero, Holmquist, Kropp, Pilakowski and Wischmeier were all honored for the first team.

The Husker total matched Texas A&M's seven selections for the most by any conference team. Every Big 12 team boasted at least three selections.

The volleyball academic all-league squad consisted of 45 combined first team members with 14 on the second team. Student- athletes had to have a 3.2 or better grade-point average to be eligible for the first team, or a 3.0 to 3.19 GPA to be eligible for the second team. Special recognition was given to Texas A&M junior Beth Weynand, who was nominated with a 4.0 gpa in biomedical science.

Nebraska drew an average of 3,767 fans per match in 1999. Nebraska has posted 10 undefeated seasons in the NU Coliseum, including an 18-0 mark in 1998. The Huskers own an amazing 357-24 all-time record at the Coliseum.

Four Huskers earn Academic All-District VII honors
Lincoln -- Four Huskers were among the 12 Division I volleyball players who earned Verizon Academic All-District VII honors Thursday. Senior Angie Oxley and sophomore Laura Pilakowski were named to the first team, and senior Jill McWilliams and sophomore Greichaly Cepero were named to the second team.

A student-athlete must own a 3.2 GPA or higher, must be a sophomore or above eligibility and must be a starter or a significant reserve for their respective team to be eligible for the honor.

Pilakowski, a native of Columbus, Neb., owns a 3.909 grade-point average in advertising. Oxley, a two-time first-team academic all-Big 12 selection, owns a 3.85 grade-point average in exercise science. Cepero, the only player in the Big 12 to earn league player-of-the-week honors twice in 2000, owns a 3.581 grade-point average in international business. McWilliams, a three-time first-team academic all-Big 12 selection, owns a 3.893 grade-point average in English.

Cook adds two new assistants to coaching staff
The Huskers will also feature new faces on the sidelines as NU Coach John Cook hired top assistant Staci Wolfe and assistant Craig Skinner last winter.

Wolfe serves as Nebraska's top assistant coach after five successful seasons on the University of Florida coaching staff. Her primary duties include recruiting, team training, academics and working with community relations. She also assists with summer camps.

A native of Los Gatos, Calif., Wolfe is considered one of the nation's top assistants after helping the Gators advance to three NCAA Final Fours in the past four seasons. Wolfe, who joined Head Coach Mary Wise's staff in 1995, helped Florida win five consecutive Southeastern Conference championships and five SEC Tournament titles. A four-year starting swing hitter for Colorado, Wolfe was twice named to the Big Eight Conference All-Tournament team (1993 and 1994) and was an All-Big Eight selection in 1994.

Skinner, who coached with Cook at Wisconsin from 1994 to 1996, takes over as the second assistant for the Huskers after serving as an assistant with the Ball State men's volleyball team for the past two years. His primary duty is to oversee the team's training. He also shares the recruiting duties, while directing Nebraska's prestigious summer camps. Skinner, 29, is a native of Muncie, Ind. He teamed up with Cook at Wisconsin from 1994 to 1996, aiding the Badgers to a 68-35 record and three postseason appearances, including the 1996 NCAA regional semifinals. Last season, Skinner, a graduate of Ball State, helped lead his alma mater to wins over three nationally ranked teams and an 8-4 record at midseason before leaving for Nebraska. The BSU men's team finished the season ranked 13th in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25.

Cook leads NU to No. 1 ranking in first season
It came as no surprise to Husker fans when John Cook was tabbed Nebraska's head volleyball coach by Director of Athletics Bill Byrne on Dec. 14, 1999.

That's because Cook had already shocked the volleyball world one year earlier when he left his post as head coach at Wisconsin, another top 10 program, to take the position as associate head coach for the Huskers, setting up his succession of 23-year head coach Terry Pettit who retired from coaching last season.

Cook is not a stranger to the Husker program. He served as an assistant coach under Terry Pettit for three seasons from 1988 to 1991. In his first season at the helm of the program, Cook has led the Huskers to a No. 1 ranking and a 27-0 start to improve his career record to 187-73.

Cook earned praise as one of the game's top young coaches after building the Badger program into a top-10 program during his seven-year career in Madison. Cook, 43, compiled a 161-73 record at the helm of the Badgers, including an 89-51 league mark in the Big Ten, one of the nation's toughest conferences. He was named the Big Ten Co-Coach and AVCA District 2 Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading the Badgers to a share of the Big Ten title with a 19-1 mark and school-record 30-3 overall record. In his seven years as head coach, the Badgers advanced to six straight postseason tournaments, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1995, Wisconsin won the National Invitational Volleyball Championship with a perfect 6-0 record.

During his tenure at UW, Cook coached four All-Americans, nine AVCA All-District award winners, 11 All-Big Ten honorees and two Big Ten freshmen of the year. He also coached 21 Academic All-Big 10 selections during his seven seasons. Cook has also served on the coaching staffs of the U.S. Men's National Team and California-San Diego.

A graduate of the University of San Diego, Cook earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1979. He completed his master's degree in teaching and coaching effectiveness from San Diego State in 1991. Cook and his wife Wendy, a former two-time All-America setter at San Diego State, are the parents of two children, Lauren, 9, and Taylor, 6.

Survey allows fans to speak on proposed scoring change
A scoring format subcommittee of Divsion I head coaches will meet in RIchmond, Va., at the AVCA Convention at the NCAA Final Four in December to discuss changing the scoring format in college volleyball. Instead of playing the current system of the best of three games out of five with each game scored to 15 points and a rally-scoring fifth game, a new format could include international rally scoring (best of three games out of five to 25 points and 15 points in the fifth game if necessary).

The change has been suggested as a way to make volleyball more appealing to fans and television networks. However, Nebraska Coach John Cook and several other Division I coaches don't agree that a change would accomplish these objectives. Cook points to the fact that televivion has not given any indication that it will contract additional air time for volleyball if the scoring format is changed. Also, Cook said, schools with loyal or growing fan bases could lose fans by expirementing. Other negative factors include historical records losing their relevance and the already failed attempt by the Big Ten to attract television by expirementing with a new scoring format.